Vienna, 6 December 2011 – “Indonesia has set a milestone in the international efforts for a world without nuclear weapons,” said Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, praising the decision of the Parliament in Jakarta to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). “With this decision, a strong signal is sent out to those eight states whose ratification is required for the CTBT to enter into force. The monitoring CTBTO (Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation), which is headquartered in Vienna, has proved since its foundation that its system of highly sophisticated monitoring stations works well. This was certainly one of the reasons why Indonesia took this positive decision. We are grateful for the decision and hope that the other countries will follow.”

Under the CTBT, nuclear test explosions are prohibited throughout the world. According to the provisions of the Treaty, it can only enter into force when it has been ratified by all states designated in Annex II. In addition to Indonesia, these comprise Egypt, China, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the USA. From then on there will be no country where nuclear weapons can be tested without being detected. This would hinder the further development and proliferation of this type of weapon.

Austria is in the vanguard of implementing the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. 85% of the required network of over 300 facilities worldwide has been established, including facilities in Austria. The data are collected at the CTBTO headquarters in Vienna, where they are analysed.